Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Iran, threatening military action in response to the regime’s harsh suppression of anti-government demonstrators. This announcement came shortly after Trump’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Through a post on Truth Social, Trump cautioned that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States would intervene in their defense. The protests, fueled by the plummeting value of Iran’s currency, have already resulted in the deaths of at least seven individuals as the government struggles to retain control. Trump emphasized the U.S. readiness by stating, “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Ali Larijani, representing Iran as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, reacted to Trump’s declarations on X, attributing the unrest to Israel and the United States. The longstanding tension between Iran and Israel, which intensified in 2024 with mutual missile launches, has been a focal point of conflict in the region. In June, Trump showed support for Israel by initiating Operation Midnight Hammer, which involved deploying B-2 bombers to target Iran’s nuclear sites with bunker-buster bombs.

Netanyahu was the sole global leader to confer with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on New Year’s Eve before the president’s ultimatum. Iranian authorities have consistently accused Western nations of inciting the protests amid the country’s economic challenges. Trump’s recent threats against Iran unfold amidst an internal rift within the Republican Party concerning support for Israel. Some staunch MAGA supporters, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, have distanced themselves from Trump due to his continued backing of Israel against Iran, both economically and militarily.

These developments could enflame those sensitive tensions as Republicans prepare for mid-term elections later this year. ‘Trump should know that intervention by the U.S. in the domestic problem corresponds to chaos in the entire region and the destruction of the U.S. interests,’ Larijani wrote on X, which the Iranian government blocks. ‘The people of the U.S. should know that Trump began the adventurism. They should take care of their own soldiers.’ After the US bombed three Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, the regime in June launched ballistic missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Alj Shamkhani, a close adviser to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also warned that ‘any interventionist hand that gets too close to the security of Iran will be cut.’ ‘The people of Iran properly know the experience of ‘being rescued’ by Americans: from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza.’ The current protests, now in their sixth day, have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. Demonstrations have not yet broken out nationwide as they did following the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf.